The other Marius: the tale of a three day Gallic emperor/blacksmith

[Ryro]

Heads up; this is NOT about the Novus Homo, or New man, 7 time council, Rome's greatest and most innovative general (to that point), uncle of Julius Caesar, teacher turned nemesis of Sulla, and all around badass who turned the Republic on its head, Gauis Marius.

(Sorry, you WON'T be reading about this all around stud, who invented Marius' mules- this innovator was the first to create a standing army, loyal to their general, for Rome!)

...Ours is the barely known by history,  Gallic blacksmith, who walked ass backwards into the purple, known as Marcus Aurelius Marius. He was supposedly only "in office" for two or three days. Though, more likely two or three months, due to the amount of coins he was able to produce (not that there's a lot) and fact that he had time to relocate to Trier before Victorinus had him cut down. He was, also supposedly, killed by one of the swords that he himself made!

Not much else is known about him other than how he came to power;

After Postumus was murdered by his own troops at Moguntiacum, for apparently not letting them loot and pillage, Marius (possibly accidently), an officer, was proclaimed emperor!?

Which brings me to my new coin. Despite the lettering going off flan I am very happy with the portrait (very Postumus-esque) and crisp reverse:

Marius. Antoninianus. 269 AD. Trier. (Ric-V 2.7 Ticinum). Anv.: IMP C MARIVS P F AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust to right. Rev.: CONCORDIA MILITVM, clasped hands. Ae. 2,75 g. Almost VF/VF. Purchased from Tauler & Fau 

 

Modern update: here's a reconstruction of his appearance from the sources descriptions of him:

And then:

Some of the other Gallic emperors:

Postumus 

Areolus (supposedly under Postumus)

Victorinus

Tetricus l

Tetricus ll

 

You know you've got Gallic emperors to share, Marius, short lived emperors. And we'd like to see them or anything you'd like.

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

Cool!  Congratulations!  I have no coins of Marius.

My only Gallic coin of note is this Sestertius.  I just love the portrait.

 

[Ryro]

3 minutes ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

Cool!  Congratulations!  I have no coins of Marius.

My only Gallic coin of note is this Sestertius.  I just love the portrait.

 

Thanks! And that portrait is intense!!

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

Dagnabbit, now you made me want to get a coin of Marius.  Perhaps I'll get one next order... 

Oh, and I also enjoyed the artistic rendering of his demise.

 

 

 

[ominus1]

oh man Ryro..too kool 4 skool Bro!...i'm lQQking them now for i need one of him also...here's a group shot of those i have 🙂

[Roman Collector]

Coingratulations, @Ryro!! Entertaining and educational write-up, too! I don't have a Marius. Nor a Laelianus. But I do have Postumus, Victorinus, and Tetricus I and II. 

Edited March 11, 2023 by Roman Collector

[Orange Julius]

Great coin! I don’t have a Marius yet and am jello.

Oh… and WHAT is up with that RED Victorinus?! Is it really that color in hand?! If so, very cool color! 

Not to side track the thread but this is my reddest coin:

…and here is my closest to Marius coin… a Victorinus with the features of Marius:

[maridvnvm]

I seem to have acquired more than my fair share of Marius coins.....

Obv:– IMP C MARIVS P F AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:– CONCORD MILIT, Clasped hands.
Minted in Cologne
Reference– RIC 6; Hunter 3; Schulzki 1b; Elmer 633.

Found in Poundbury, Dorset in 1986
3.41 g. 19.99 mm. 180 degrees

Obv:– IMP C M AVR MARIVS AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:– VICTO[RI]A AVG, Victory standing left, holding wreath and palm frond.
Minted in Trier
Reference– RIC 17. Schulzki 7b, Elmer 638, Cunetio 2509

Found in Poundbury, Dorset in 1986
2.30 g. 20.74 mm. 0 degrees

Uneven strike

2.78 g. 21.35 mm. 0 degrees

Obv:– IMP C M AVR MARIVS AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:– VICTORIA AVG, Victory advancing right, holding wreath and palm.
Minted in Cologne
Reference– RIC 18. C. 20. Elmer 636. AGK 6 a.

Lots of silvering. Worn reverse die.

Found in Poundbury, Dorset in 1986
2.62 g. 21.13 mm. 180 degrees

2.85 g. 20.33 mm. 180 degrees

2.84 g. 19.70 mm. 0 degrees

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

And 2 or more seem to have silvering.  Nice!!!!

[shanxi]

I have only one worn example:

 

Marius
Antoninianus
Obv.: IMP C M AVR MARIVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev.: VICTORIA AVG, Victory advancing left, holding wreath and palm
2.38 g, 21 mm
Ref.: RIC 17

 

[Ryro]

Thanks for sharing your Gallic emperors and coins of the little known blacksmith!

[ominus1]

On 3/10/2023 at 8:56 PM, Orange Julius said:

and here is my closest to Marius coin

><...i hear ya ...^^

[Spaniard]

@Ryro...That's a great looking coin!..Nice portrait and really cool reverse...Congrats on a neat addition to your collection!...Didn't know you had such an artistic gift😉.

My only Marius...

MARIUS. Romano-Gallic Emperor, 269 AD.
Obverse..IMP CM AVR MARIVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Reverse..VICTORIA AVG, Victory standing left, holding wreath and palm.
RIC#17...Mint Trier?

And my only other Gallic Emperor..

Postumus, Antoninianus, 260-269, Trier, , Billon 21MM
Obverse- Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG
Reverse- Serapis standing left, raising hand & holding sceptre; prow at his feet to left SERAPI COMITI AVG
RIC-329 Trier mint (AD 267)

[Qcumbor]

Just one purple-ish  example

Marius, Antoninianus - Mint #2 : Köln or Mainz
MP C M AVR MARIVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
VICT - ORIA AVG, Victory walking left, holding wreath and palm
3,2 gr
Ref : RIC # 17, RCV # 11124, Cohen # 21 (20Fr), Schulzki 7a

Q

 

[Harry G]

Here's my set!

Laelianus

 

Marius

 

Postumus

 

Postumus (Aureolus)

Edited March 15, 2023 by Harry G

[Harry G]

Tetricus I (sic on reverse on this coin: PVAX)

 

Tetricus II

[Victrix]

Good write-up! I recently got back into gallic empire coins and picked up a Marius. It's still in 'as found' condition but in person some of the silvering is still visible and quite like the look of it uncleaned.